Novel Terahertz Sources and Waveguides

Prof. Alan D. Bristow

West Virginia University, Department of Physics

 Abstract:

Terahertz (THz) pulses provide time-resolved and broadband spectral fingerprints that are useful for various applications, which include gas and biosensing, probing interband transitions in semiconductor heterostructures, measuring local conductivity, and testing faults in mass-produced circuitry. While the growth of THz time-domain spectroscopy has been impressive, further advances require that several technological and scientific hurdles be overcome. This presentation will address (1) THz sources that are convenient for pumping by inexpensive and compact fiber lasers and (2) waveguiding in novel semiconductor-core optical fibers. The first topic discusses the power- and wavelength-dependent generation of optical rectification in chalcopyrite crystals, such as ZnGeP₂, which have  symmetry and are consequently birefringent. The second topic will discuss the characterization, coupling, transmission and absorption in silicon and silica layers of the waveguiding structures, which promises to be a flexible and high-throughput alternative to metal-waveguides.

Biography:

Alan D. Bristow received the B.Sc. degree in Interdisciplinary Physics from the University of East Anglia (U.K.), in 1997, and the M.Sc. degree in Optoelectronics and Laser Devices from Heriot-Watt University (U.K.), in 1998, and the Ph.D. degree in Physics from the University of Sheffield (U.K.), in 2004. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Toronto (Canada) for three years, and then a Research Associate at JILA (a joint institute between the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the University of Colorado) for an additional three years. In 2009, he was an Adjunct Instructor at Colorado School of Mines. Since 2010, he has been an Assistant Professor in the Department of Physics at West Virginia University. His Current research interests include Coherent control of light-matter interaction in nanoscale materials and the application of novel ultrafast laser techniques to condensed matter physics. Prof. Bristow is a member of the American Physical Society, the Optical Society of America, and the WVNano Initiative.